{"id":1663,"date":"2019-05-07T04:41:04","date_gmt":"2019-05-07T04:41:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/danielcraigisnotbond.com\/index\/?p=1663"},"modified":"2019-05-07T04:41:04","modified_gmt":"2019-05-07T04:41:04","slug":"the-plot-thickens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/danielcraigisnotbond.com\/index\/blog\/2019\/05\/07\/the-plot-thickens\/","title":{"rendered":"The Plot Thickens?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Daniel Craig appearing in EON\u2019s bizarre suicide prevention\/pharmaceutical advert promotional campaign.<\/p>\n

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This is the official synopsis of the forthcoming Bond 25:<\/p>\n

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\u201cBond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Unfortunately is seems our old friends Neal Purvis and Robert Wade (P&W) the dynamic duo who\u2019ve had a hand in every Bond film since The World Is Not Enough (TWINE) are at it again, placing Bond on the outside looking in. Yes, starting with TWINE, P&W have placed Bond outside the realm of his occupation, whether through injury, capture, suspension, vengeance, desertion or acting on unsanctioned orders from his previous supervisor, Bond has operated as a rogue warrior in one way or another since these two have become entwined with the series.<\/p>\n

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Early on in my rantings and ramblings I did a rather admittedly amateurish (as opposed to what I do now?) outline of these two. Wherein I accuse them of unoriginality<\/a> by using the same framework for all their films, considering the fact these two have only written 6 non EON projects in nearly 30 years, the largest of which was Johnny English, I can\u2019t be far wrong. Bond is never going to move beyond stagnation until these two crumbs finally get swept off the table at EON.\u00a0The story is the most important part of any film and EON invests the least amount into it. Yet they don\u2019t bat an eye at shelling out millions to auteur directors and bored, disenfranchised actors who\u2019d rather be anywhere else. EON needs to ditch these two and inject fresh new blood into the franchise whether it is in the form of competent proven authors with a track record for compelling action\/adventure films, or audition young up and comers to see what fresh ideas they can bring, anything\u2019s got to be better than this status quo!<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s funny these two have decided the machinations of Craig\u2019s outsidership this time around would be retirement. Craig, who looked old beyond his years when initially cast, looks every bit the average pensioner today at 51. He was already too creaky and withered by his third movie Skyfall, to pull off the \u201cyoung amateur agent\u201d he was supposed to be portraying the two films\/one mission previous. Also consider, if and when he does finally stop torturing us with his version of \u201cBond\u201d he will effectively be<\/u> retired from film due to his lack of roles. It seems old Danny boy has made himself insufferable in Hollywood, the roles which initially came pouring in once he was inexplicably miscast as Bond, have all but dried up due to his noxious behavior on set and more damning to the production bean counters, the fact he\u2019s box office poison.<\/p>\n

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So, a sad film for the miserable actor starring in it, Craig should have been given the boot right after SPECTRE, especially after his infamous \u201cslash my wrists\u2026just for the money\u201d comments. Add to that the swirl of excitement surrounding all the speculation as to who would be replacing the dower thespian and you have to wonder why the powers that be at EON bothered to throw the mountains of cash they surely showered on the beatified actor to return to the role he so truly despises?!<\/p>\n

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So Craig will be bumming around a beachfront resort town wearing a black shirt (very smart in the sweltering Caribbean) and some acid washed \u201cdad jeans\u201d whilst driving a rundown SUV, very much like the beginning of the second Bourne film. When a ghost from his past appears, to tear his new found tranquility apart\u2026 like the start of the second Bourne film. However this is a friendly ghost in the form of Felix Leiter asking him to help on a job. \u201cJust when I think I\u2019m out, they pull me back in.\u201d A tired trope to be sure and one it seems EON is unafraid to dig up and resurrect for this intellectually bankrupt film.<\/p>\n

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Judging by the preproduction work, I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll be treated to the tortured flashbacks of Lea Seydoux\u2019s Madeline Swann, such as the time she killed her father\u2019s attackers as alluded to in SPECTRE\u2026 just as in the beginning of the second Bourne film. For those of you who forgot, or mercifully didn\u2019t hear, Miss Swann killed some men who came to murder her father, in a story which I have neglected to point out previously, is eerily similar to the one told by Olga Kurylenko\u2019s Camille Montes in the oft overlooked Quantum of Solace.<\/p>\n

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As stated above, Craig will be trying to rescue a captured scientist, another well worn, threadbare trope EON reanimates like Dr. Frankenstein. But all is not as it appears which judging from all of P&W\u2019s previous Bond works will take the form of a double agent.<\/p>\n

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Earlier rumors about the script hinted at a female understudy for Bond, not unlike the character \u201cRey\u201d from the latest Star Wars films. This character, let\u2019s for the sake of brevity call her Rey, will most likely be played by Lashana Lynch. I say that because, while I personally find Miss Lynch to be a lovely and attractive woman, she doesn\u2019t fit the EON architype of the romantic partner for Bond. At least not the current version of EON, while Cubby and\/or Saltzman had no problem casting women who didn\u2019t fit into the thin Nordic category (Grace Jones anybody), it seems Craig\u2019s Bond only has eyes for Arian anorexics. So one can assume Miss Lynch will be playing a capable, overly efficient, slightly masculine junior agent and nothing more.<\/p>\n

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At some point ether early on or a bit later Madeline Swann will be killed off. I\u2019m assuming early, perhaps so Craig, who may initially rebuff Leiter can return to the fold to enact some sweet, sweet revenge for her death. Further evidence to this comes in the form of Bond\u2019s house being a small, special made set for the picture rather than an existing edifice already in existence and conscripted for the film. I imagine it will be blown up or otherwise destroyed before the opening credits roll.<\/p>\n

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Since Craig will be all mopey and depressed (for a change) he won\u2019t be in the mood for love we can assume. So I\u2019m guessing Miss Ana De Armas will be the villain\u2019s moll, the left over Irma Bunt character from the leaked SPECTRE script maybe?<\/p>\n

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Rami Malek playing the \u201cMysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology\u201d will, I can only assume, be very much like Jessie Eisenberg\u2019s Lex Luthor, a Mark Zuckerberg type entity or similar to the techno dupe portrayed in the fifth and most recent Bourne film. As to the \u201cdangerous technology\u201d I\u2019m guessing it will be some form or another of impossible internet software which will spy on or otherwise harm the user\u2026 like in SPECTRE\u2026 or the first Kingsman.<\/p>\n

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Any way you slice it this will be a very predictable lame duck film for its lame duck star to (hopeful) bow out on!<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Daniel Craig appearing in EON\u2019s bizarre suicide prevention\/pharmaceutical advert promotional campaign.     This is the official synopsis of the forthcoming Bond 25:   \u201cBond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help.…<\/p>\n

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